TEHRAN: The embassy of Azerbaijan in Tehran resumed operations on Monday after more than a year of negotiations between the two countries to ease tensions, Iran’s semi-official media outlets reported.
An official source from the Azeri embassy in Tehran, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, confirmed the reopening of the embassy, pending an official announcement by Iran’s foreign ministry to validate the development.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijani news outlet news.az reported on Monday that Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry officially announced the resumption of embassy operations at a new location in Tehran. The reopening comes following diplomatic negotiations between Azerbaijan and Iran aimed at improving bilateral relations.
Relations between Tehran and Baku have been strained for an extended period, exacerbated by an incident in January 2023 when an armed assailant attacked Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tehran, resulting in the death of the embassy’s security chief and injuries to two guards. Iran attributed the attack to personal motives, while Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev labeled it a “terrorist attack.” Baku further accused Tehran of supporting extremist elements seeking to destabilize Azerbaijan, a charge Iran denied.
In response to the incident, Azerbaijan expelled four Iranian diplomats from Baku in April 2023, prompting Iran to reciprocate by expelling an equal number of Azerbaijani diplomats from Tehran and Tabriz a month later.
The attack exacerbated longstanding tensions between the neighboring nations, which are also affected by regional dynamics, including Azerbaijan’s opening of an embassy in Israel in March 2023—a move vehemently opposed by Tehran due to its hostile relations with Israel.
Azerbaijan shares a border with Iran’s northwest and hosts a significant population of over 12 million Ethnic Azeris, making it Iran’s largest minority group. The maintenance of favorable relations with Baku is crucial for Tehran, especially amidst ongoing tensions over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Despite these challenges, relations between Iran and Azerbaijan saw improvements during the tenure of the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Notably, in May, the two countries jointly inaugurated the Qiz Qalasi dam on a border river in northwest Iran. President Ilham Aliyev attended the ceremony, during which President Raisi emphasized the unbreakable nature of Tehran-Baku relations.
However, the positive momentum was abruptly disrupted by the tragic helicopter crash that claimed President Raisi’s life, along with the country’s foreign minister and others, shortly after the inauguration ceremony.
